Scary Stuff on the Printed and Digital Page

I had the pleasure of meeting Joe Hill (real name: Joseph Hillstrom King) this past weekend at the Granite State Comicon in Manchester, NH (that’s him on the right and yours truly on the left). Hill is the author of the novels Horns and Heart Shaped Box, and in case you hadn’t already noticed the family resemblance, his father is Stephen King. I haven’t read any of Hill’s prose work yet, but I greatly enjoyed the first volume of his graphic novel series Locke and Keye from IDW Comics and I just read the first issue of The Cape from the same company. Hill autographed a copy of his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts for me, and I’m anxious to sink my teeth into it.

Of course, the author’s first major public exposure was at the age of 10 when he played Billy in the movie Creepshow, directed by George Romero and written by Stephen King. I mentioned this to him and he told me looking back he’s pretty sure he made the right choice going into writing instead of acting. Who am I to argue?

The rest of the convention was great fun as well. Granite State Comicon is put on by the guys who run Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, NH and they always put on a good show. It’s interesting how I only get this at comic book conventions, but my resemblance to George Lucas was pointed out a few times. That could be good or bad in a room full of Star Wars fans, depending on whether Return of the Jedi or Attack of the Clones is fresher in people’s minds at a given moment.